The tennis champion is changing the game in multiple ways.
The last time Serena Williams wore a full-body catsuit to a Grand Slam tournament, back in 2018 at the French Open, it practically caused a revolt. The Gallic tennis powers that be were so shocked by the replacement of the classic little white dresses — if female tennis wear can even be called “dresses” given that they are shorter than most tunics — with a black Nike bodysuit, they didn’t just clutch their breasts in horror, they actually instituted a dress code that specifically barred such outfits. “One must respect the game and the place,” Bernard Giudicelli, French Tennis Federation president, stated. But then, of course, Ms. Williams did it again, opting for a short onesie at the Australian Open in 2019, a look that recalled her first appearance at the U.S. Open in 2002, when she wore a short black bodysuit (she was then sponsored by Puma). That look became something of a lightning rod and a seminal moment in the conversation around women’s bodies — especially Black women’s bodies — tennis, power and who gets to police all of the above. And now, playing at the height of her powers in the semifinals of the Australian Open, chasing her record-breaking 24th Grand Slam and defying all odds, she is wearing one yet again. This time, it is even more eye-catching: an asymmetric, one-legged, graphic pink, red and black color-block catsuit. Even in the wilder fashion context of the Australian Open, where players have historically felt freer to express themselves in clothes on court — even in the context of Ms. Williams’s own tennis dress history, which has included a pleated denim skirt with studded vest top and a tutu — it was an unmistakable statement of intent. She has, and is, forever changing the game.
